CARELESSNESS 31 



numerous the cases are in certain houses. This may mean 

 that under the crowded conditions in which people lived, 

 the disease was more easily transmitted from one person 

 to another. A small one-family house, if one can afford 

 it, is far better than the crowded apartment or tenement. 



Cleanliness a factor in the home. A large, airy house 

 in a good location is not the only necessity for good health. 

 If houses are kept closed long, or allowed to run down ; if 

 they have leaky gas or sewage pipes, or if they are over- 

 run with rats or infested with flies, they are far from being 

 sanitary and healthful. A clean fly may have twenty thou- 

 sand germs tucked away on its legs or body, while a dirty 

 one may carry several million. We can at least keep our 

 homes clean and free from dirt, and we can also be clean 

 in our own person and clothes. 



Carelessness. Carelessness always plays a big part 

 in making our homes unpleasant places in which to live. 

 There are numerous calamities besides sickness which may 

 come to the home. One of the most treacherous is fire. The 

 fires in the United States average 1500 a day. The cause 

 of a great many of these is a carelessly dropped match, 

 a lighted cigarette, the gas turned on and forgotten, or the 

 electric iron thoughtlessly left, in other words, carelessness. 



What is more valuable than a pair of good eyes? Close 

 your eyes for five minutes, and think what life would 

 be if, instead of five minutes, it was for five years, or for 

 your whole life that you were to be surrounded by dark- 

 ness. Think of what you would miss in life. Carelessness 

 in caring for eye defects, such as nearsightedness or far- 

 sightedness, or careless use of lights and lighting, all of 

 these things may mean a lessened use later in life, or per- 

 haps loss of use of these important organs. 



